VA to Receive $142,600 from Google Settlement

Virginia will receive about $142,600 from a national $7 million settlement with Google over the company's collection of emails and other sensitive data sent over wireless networks several years ago.
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Let's see ...Google is worth about 73 billion.That's taking a penny and shaving off a sliver of copper as payment. More of a nuisance for Google than a fine.

Not to mention the societal benefits of google maps and street view (gratis from google!) far outweigh any generic data captured from wifi snooping..Just shows how far removed from reality are his priorities.

<quoted text>'americans get robbed' of what? Their IP addresses? The only thing google is 'guilty' of is logging wifi access points (and some unencypted signal snippets) as their video cars drove by.This is who should be in jail:http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/thank...dumb and dumber

Cant argue on that huckster, those bankers should be hung. But google has stolen info and has given it out, probably mostly to fat sis of dhs

<quoted text>Any reason you have elected to display the SSID?Sounds sketchy .....

Guess it is the same reason cafes, hotels, libraries and dtwn Cville do.I have a several wireless routers and my PCs, tablet and phone have applications which display them so I can connect to them. I guess there may be some setting to exclude my neighbor's signals, but I haven't bothered to check, but it's not my problem if they want to broadcast their SSID. One of them is wide open.

Google was not being sketchy. I suppose it was surveying how many access points were in neighborhoods. Maybe they were planning to map it. Free access points on google maps is useful.

<quoted text>Then why did they record the locations and data and archive it? Do you do that with your neighbor's routers? Hope not.

The only thing which you wifi hardware picks up is the broadcast signal. You have to either guess or crack the password if it is password protected, then enter the username and password to access their network. If it is an open signal, you actually have to log on.Google did neither. Their wifi cards just recorded that there was a signal, probably for future marketing purposes. They didn't break any law.It's the same as their gmail which 'records' key words in your email to advertise to you on gmail, or a website with cookies (like NBC29 and Topix) that tracks where you've been and targets ads to you.Nothing nefarious.

<quoted text>The only thing which you wifi hardware picks up is the broadcast signal. You have to either guess or crack the password if it is password protected, then enter the username and password to access their network. If it is an open signal, you actually have to log on.Google did neither. Their wifi cards just recorded that there was a signal, probably for future marketing purposes. They didn't break any law.It's the same as their gmail which 'records' key words in your email to advertise to you on gmail, or a website with cookies (like NBC29 and Topix) that tracks where you've been and targets ads to you.Nothing nefarious.

Google stopped the data collection in May 2010, shortly before the company revealed cars taking street-level photos for its online mapping service also had been grabbing information transmitted over Wi-Fi networks that had been set up in homes and businesses without requiring a password to gain access. An employee of Google, together with specialized software, exploited this vulnerability.They broke the law in a huge way and got a slap on the wrist (A gentle tap on the wrist.)Open networks are a HUGE risk; think about that next time you log onto a public access point. If you have to use public, make sure you have a good firewall and never use their Wi-Fi for sensitive material.

<quoted text>Google stopped the data collection in May 2010, shortly before the company revealed cars taking street-level photos for its online mapping service also had been grabbing information transmitted over Wi-Fi networks that had been set up in homes and businesses without requiring a password to gain access. An employee of Google, together with specialized software, exploited this vulnerability.They broke the law in a huge way and got a slap on the wrist (A gentle tap on the wrist.)Open networks are a HUGE risk; think about that next time you log onto a public access point. If you have to use public, make sure you have a good firewall and never use their Wi-Fi for sensitive material.

What law did they break?.Most people password protect networks. Most routers come that way by default.

"The company explained that when the Street View program launched, the team inadvertently included code in their software that “sampled all categories of publicly broadcast WiFi data,” even though the project leaders did not want the more comprehensive data. As soon as Google discovered the practice, it grounded the Street View cars and separated and secured the data on its network.Law enforcement officials and privacy advocates were outraged, and for nearly three years, Google has been working with the authorities on a settlement.“We work hard to get privacy right at Google,” the company said in an emailed statement.“But in this case we didn’t, which is why we quickly tightened up our systems to address the issue. The project leaders never wanted this data, and didn’t use it or even look at it. We’re pleased to have worked with Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen and the other state attorneys general to reach this agreement.”

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